Lamar Howell's Weblog

I sweat when I quote poetry about my Christ

Shiny beads pop out on my skin

and I feel a flush rising from my shoulders,

flowing out my face in exhalation.

I freeze when I contemplate His Majesty

Gel into slow motion

It labors me to move

bends me,  the weightiness of His worth

moves me closer to the pavement.

It grips my gut like a vise when I feel His pleasure,

turns my center of gravity counter-clockwise

as I steady my knees, like a runner, with both hands.

Oh! but what I would give to tell the world,

to say something – one thing – that would ring

forever in their souls

even one unforgettable unrehearsed

angelicly chiropracticked

gesture heavenward.

I swallow hard to think it may never be

that I could miss the chance

to stand on a soapbox for His highest Honor

and be hidden by a passing cloud of revelation.

I’m astonished when I scream of his pierced victories

I breathe harshly, embarrassed by my  gutteral sobs

Thunder-struck by the gulf between what can be said

and all that is unutterable.

Why a cross, nails, and a circle of thorns

so conquer and occupy  my mind

is hard to say,

but God – my own dearest God –

let me try.

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On Earth Day

Children planted grass in the worn out path up a hillView Post

Where Roman soldiers carried out a sentence.

Green was the bile which spewed from the spleen

Of religious men, green with envy.

Green the hind feathers of the cock that crowed

Green wood burned in a hasty fire

Greed was green in his Betrayer’s eye

Fresh green in his crown from the thorny burnet bush

Olive – the hue of the tree, deformed into an instrument of death

Its buds drying prematurely

Snakes of  jade slithered from the garden of woes

Slime – color of lime – in their wake

Verdant were the redbud leaves

that palmed the rain which flowed from angels’ eyes

Emerald the bow around the throne

as God looked away in pain

Green was the mildew in an oxygen-deprived cave

That served as the Son of the Earth’s tomb

It was the day that Saved the Earth

Remember Earth Day. . . when everything was green.

DÍA DE LA TIERRA

En el día de la Tierra

Niños sembraron la hierba en el camino gastado sobre una colina

donde los soldados Romanos llevaron a cabo la pena de muerte

Verde era el mal genio que arrojo’ del bazo

de los religiosos, verde con la envidia

Verde las plumas traseras del gallo que cacareyó

Leña verde quemó en un fuego apresurado

Avaricia era verde en el ojo del Traidor

Verde fresco del arbusto espinoso en su corona

Olivo – el matiz del árbol, se transformó en un instrumento del muerte,

sus capullos secando prematuramente

Víboras de jade reptaron del jardín doloroso

Verdín – el color de lima – en su estela

Verdeante eran las hojas de la higuera

que palmaron la lluvia derramando de ojos de angeles

Esmeralda el arco sobre el trono

cuando Dios miró hacia otro lado en aflición

Verdoyo en la cueva que faltó de oxígeno

que servió como la tumba del Hijo de la Tierra

Era el día que salvó la Tierra

Recuérdate El Día de la Tierra . . . cuando todo era verde.

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